Last month I was able to spend a few days shopping in Vienna and I’ve also managed to acquire a few organic beauty products. I’m not going to delve too much into what I bought but rather where. This is a little shopping guide for Vienna for organic beauty lovers. In this post you will find a short list of my beauty hunt as well as a thorough guide through organic beauty shops in Vienna.

Because the products are relatively new, I will not say much about them and leave any commentaries for future reviews. Here is a short list of my purchases. Otherwise this post would be too long.

As you can see there is not a lot of make up but rather skin care and hair products. I’ve been on the search for a good hydrating cream as well as hair care products.

I’ve visited all of these stores as a mere mortal and have mentioned to no one that I would be writing this guide. I think this is the only way I could objectively test the stores. On the other hand, you will therefore only see pictures of the stores’ exteriors and not the inside. On a side note, all these stores are situated in the city centre or nearby. In the proximity of Stephansplatz - Mariahilferstrasse.

Lerchenfelderstr. 44

Why is this store the first? This is my favourite store of them all. Along with the all-pervasive Müller stores, this is the place where I did most of my beauty shopping although this is not that often.

They mostly have a selection of skin care made in Austria. If you look at the picture, the blackboard in their storefront says: "Naturkosmetik made in Austria". So this is pretty much the theme of this store. The only organic make up line they have is the French brand Couleur Caramel. This is where I bought my mineral powder almost two years ago with the help of their kind saleswoman.

The also have an online shop where all of their products can be ordered but the shipping cost for the rest of Europe (which I hope means Croatia too) is 13.50 €. A specialty is that they also offer skin and body treatments. It’s rare to find a store which also offers spa treatments which are, of course, also natural and organic. I can not comment on the treatments but the price point is very similar to conventional spa treatments in Croatia. I was really amazed by such relatively low prices as they use exclusively natural and organic beauty products.

After every shopping trip I also got a lot of samples. This time I did not have any luck because they had summer vacation at the time I was in town. Better luck next time.

Stiftgasse 19/1

This little store holds a vast collection of both skin care and make up, both budget and high end and both domestic and from all over the world. I must admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by what they have to offer in such a small space.

The saleswoman was really kind and in no way pushy so I was able to peruse everything in peace. As my shopping was relatively small I did not expect to get any samples. As with the previous store, they do have a web shop and they also offer treatments. The prices are reasonable but, again, I can’t comment on the quality of the treatments. The only downside to their business is their website which is, in my humble opinion, just hideous. (Sorry) Although that is not important for my guide.

Gumpendorfer Straße 20 & Lindengasse 27

This is a natural hair salon as well as a professional hair care line. There are two hair salons in the city where you can also purchase their products. However you can also find their products in almost every store in this guide so you do not have to visit their salons.

Their products are made from raw material from the region or from fair trade. The brand was created by a hair stylist and chemist, who specializes in natural ingredients. This made for the perfect mixture of efficiency and natural ingredients.

I got the products very recently and I did not get a haircut so I will not say anything about their services nor about their products as of yet.

Wollzeile 4

The store seemed snobbish from the outset. It is situated in the I. Bezirk and this in Vienna means horrendous rental prices. Nevertheless, I did go take a look inside but my first impression was spot on.

The selection of products is pretty good and vast as well as a nice mixture of skin care and make up. The downside is that it's exclusively high end. Many of the products are significantly more expensive than say web stores like LoveLula (which doesn't even charge shipping). The only special feature of this store is that they carry max&me oils. The rest can also be acquired in other stores or online (and significantly cheaper).

I did not like the stores vibe nor the fact that they do not put their prices online. Unless you're filthy rich, avoid.

Neubaugasse 86 and other

I only spotted this salon while passing by and I do not have much to say about it. The prices are much higher than in Croatia (logically) and since there is only one hair stylist in the world who is allowed anywhere near my hair, I did not get a hair cut here neither. There are a couple of these salons across Vienna and they also have their own hair care line for their salons.

What stands out the most are their natural hair colours which do an excellent job at covering gray hairs. Henna is usually not that great at covering those but judging by the photos on their website, I’d say they work great.

Lindengasse 13 & others

This is not strictly a organic beauty store in the real sense of the word but they do have some organic skin care and make up. Furthermore you can find organic - almost anything you can think. The prices are a bit higher than in normal supermarkets (and almost every supermarket in Vienna has a selection of organic food) but you can buy some excellent and affordable coconut oil - which is exactly what I did.

Postgasse 1-3

I did not stop buy at this store since they had summer vacation just like Vercos. I read this on their web page so I did not visit this store and therefore there is no picture. Not much to say except that their selection is great, at least judging by their web site. They also have a web shop but they only ship outside of Austria or Germany if you send an inquiry. That’s all I’m going to say and again - better luck next time.

Other stores

Other than the aforementioned stores you can find stores such as the store on the picture called Reformhaus. Those are stores that carry natural products and skin care and make up. They are similar to the organic supermarket or the Croatian biobio store. But you have to be careful sometimes as not every store selects its products as carefully as the one on the picture. For example, in one such Reformhaus I’ve come across ArtDeco make up which by no means can be considered organic make up.

Likewise each Müller has a good selection of natural skin care and the bigger ones even hold a little natural beauty corner reserved for natural skin care and make up. There is indeed a decent amount of both high end and affordable organic make up. But as with the aforementioned stores, you have to be careful with the selection. In one such Naturshop I found my beloved Korres lipsticks. It is definitely worth paying a visit since they always have excellent discounted sets of different products.

I hope you’ll forgive my long absence but writing this post has been very exhausting. Do you have any recommendations when shopping in this wonderful city? Have you ever been there? What has made the biggest impression on you while there?